FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Yes we do — call us with the room measurements & we can give you an accurate free phone estimate.

NO. We are a second generation, American family-run business since 1951, with over 125,000 satisfied customers. We like to say “Our Family Serving Your Family for 50 plus Years”. We are not some “Johnny come lately” with no contractor’s license that took a one week course on how to buff/screen and recoat wood floors using cheaper, less quality urethane. We’ve seen some companies even use acrylics, like Mop & Glo or Refresh on your floors.

Yes, we are fully licensed and insured. Many others out here are indeed operating illegally, with no contractor license, no liability insurance, no workers’ compensation insurance, and no employee background checks. Make sure to check because you do not want inferior products and methods used on your home or business.

WE HAVE NO COMPETITORS…NO ONE CAN DO WHAT WE DO! No other licensed or non-licensed contractor can offer anything close to what we can! 25 Year warranty. Some contractors say they can offer a similar service, but they cannot. Over 125,000 satisfied customers. We are licensed!

 YES, This would require our Dust Free sanding.

We will fill the holes left from the nails in the tack strip from a previous carpet installation and the staple holes. However, it will not fill bevels between boards or major gouges in the wood from previous problems.

The factory finish has been sprayed on several times in very thin coats. The in-home, hand-applied custom finish has “levelers” to assist in leveling out streaks.

Maybe yes, Maybe No. …Streaks are a part of wood floor finish just as brush marks are part of wood work painting. Some show more than others depending on may factors. Satin finish has a tendency to streak more than semi-gloss or gloss. Some woods emit a chemical reaction that caused streaks. When we see that there may be a possibility of streaking, we will add additional levelers in order to minimize streaking as much as possible. We make every possible attempt, as a quality painter does, to prevent streaks.

This is a question of appearance retention. We experience the Brunswick premium finish will last a long time. You may still scratch the surface, but considering the whole floor, we are confident you will experience satisfactory appearance retention for years.

Our normal process adds 3 to 6 coats of protection to your floors. Same as we apply on bowling alleys, gym floors, dance floors and commercial floors. Those floors receive extremely high usage and need recoating every 6 to 8 years. Use that as a guide as to how long will the finish last on your floors. Home use traffic is much less.

If you want a “like new” floor, with an exact stain color, and your floor can be sanded and you should get your hardwood floors DustFree sand refinished. Most floors and most customers do not need or want their floors to be “like new”, but just better.

We’ve been very pleased to find out that protecting the wood underneath, is one of the great qualities of carpet. In our area, we’ve been blessed with really good wood that was installed from the 1930s to 1970s. The wall-to-wall carpet has protected it beautifully. We’ve found that when we take up the carpet, we can, with only a little extra work, fill the nail holes from the tack strips and repair isolated damage.

Most of the time, the hardwood floor underneath is not damaged and we can proceed with the 1 Day Re Coating System If there are boards that need replacing, it will be extra time and extra cost depending on the exact conditions. Normally, the pad is adhered to the floor with staples, which we pull out and fill the holes, included in the quote at no extra cost. Sometimes the pad has adhered with adhesive that causes the urethane to come off the floor when removing the pad. If the damage is light, we proceed with no extra cost to the customer. If the floor has excessive urethane damage & some wood floor damage it may be best to do a DustFree Sanding™ that will make the floor come out like new.

YES Dust Free sanding will remove paint.

We have replaced boards, hand-scraped boards, hand sanded boards, stained the affected areas, and then performed the Dust Free Sanding process on the entire floor.

We do stair treads and risers by hand.

Curing is associated with the Brunswick Premium Urethane finish and is the hardening of the urethane. It hardens from the top down. Therefore, the urethane may feel dry, but it isn’t hard. As the hardening continues downward, the urethane is curing. The urethane is more than 60% cured in 4 hours, 90% cured in 24 hours. 100% curing occurs in 48 hours.

The 1 Day Re Coating System machines plug into the wall – they use 110 power.

NEVER USE TAPE ON WOOD FLOORS! As long as you do not use any type of tape on the wood floors, you can paint or touch up the baseboards or ¼ rounds in 72 Hours. It is not possible for us to properly apply the system near the edges of the rooms without making contact with the baseboards or ¼ rounds. We do our absolute best to be as neat as possible, but please plan to do some touch up painting. We are not responsible for any damage to baseboards or ¼ rounds….Again…… NEVER USE ANY TAPE ON ANY WOOD FLO

NO…..Some customers do their own masking. Be aware if you “mask”, the probability of the urethane coating and the urethane on the masking tape may become one surface. Before removing the masking tape, use a sharp blade & cut between the bottom of the baseboard and the tape. This will help you avoid the possibility of removing some of the urethane from the wood flooring when taking off the masking tape.

No and Yes…. If the stains are in the finish, yes, but if the stain is in the wood it will probably not come out. There are other options to deal with pet stains and other discoloration. We can also replace boards to help resolve the problem, at an extra cost.

YES We can alter the existing color of your floor.

NO eventually the new urethane will start to peel. The floor must us the Dustfree sand system.

As I understand it, they are an inexpensive acrylic polymer. Other acrylic polymers include Mop N’ Glo and shoe polish. It bonds to the floor, and is not removable without sanding.

Peeling is worse than chipping. When a finish is chipping, there is some bond to the floor. When a finish is peeling, there is no bond to the floor. the floor must be Dust Free.

There are no oil based urethanes in California. For a long time oil-based urethane was considered better than water-based urethane, but that was a long time ago. Especially over the past 11 years, the water-based urethane manufacturers have improved their products. We feel that the water-based product that we use is much better than the available oil-based products.It is harder, longer lasting, and clearer. It is used by Brunswick on their bowling alleys. Also, it costs about 12 times more than oil based urethanes (up to $ 150.00 per Gallon).

We have 3 sheens available: satin, semi-gloss, and gloss. Used in heavy duty commercial spaces like gyms. Semi-gloss – has a lot of sheen but doesn’t look like glass. It can be used commercially or residentially. Satin has very little sheen, but creates a beautiful, mellow floor tone. It is our most popular of the finishes, is best for hiding dog scratches, and adds a nice patina to the wood. Matte is not recommended as it has no sheen and appears to be no finish on the wood. We have used this in museums only

The more gloss, the more reflective, and the urethane will show more scuffs and scratches.

However, furniture is one of the determining factors of the cost. If there is little, if any furniture, the price will be very low. If there is furniture, but it can be moved to a room that we are not refinishing, the price is a little higher. If there is furniture and we can’t move it out of the room, we will have to do 1/2 of the room, then move the furniture to the other half, and your job will be the most expensive option.

The odor is minimal. We spent days refinishing community centers, gyms, churches, pre-schools, all while occupied as we worked. There was one complaint about odor and after a half hour, the complaint evaporated along with the odor. The more coats of Color that are applied, the longer the odor will last.

You can walk on your floor in fresh socks, in about 4 hours. With shoes, in about 8 hours. It would be nice to give the floor 24 hours until the furniture is replaced. The floor is 90% cured in 24 hours.

Depending on the backing and cushion you are using, best to wait 2 weeks for the top coat to be fully cured.

It would be nice for your dog to have an overnight.

There is no problem with odor, but you shouldn’t walk on the floor while we’re doing the work. At the least, you’ll introduce dirt to the processed floors. You can walk on the floors in socks 4 hours after the technician leaves. You can walk on the floors in shoes after 8 hours, and move your furniture back after 24 hours.

A gouge is much deeper than a scratch. With 1 Day Re Coating System we have a chance of completely resolving a scratch, but we can’t always resolve a gouge. In some cases we can use stainable putty along with the 1 Day Re Coating System system, which will be helpful.

When you sand a floor, you get to a new layer of wood, and you also sand out the imperfections unless the damage to the wood was too deep or too severe. The floor can be completely stained to any color you’d like. The color can go from dark to light or light to dark. Damaged planks can be replaced with new ones and blend right in. Additional areas of wood can be installed and sanded to match. Partially damaged floors can be repaired to look new. We do all of this without creating dust!

1/32”. If the sander isn’t removing gouges, stains, or other imperfections that require deeper sanding, he will, if he is very good, take off 1/32″. If he isn’t good, he may take off 1/8″. Another reason to use OC DustFree

The floor would have to be DustFree sanded.

No.

NEVER use any steam clear for your wood floors. Water & wood do not mix!

From 1 to 3, depending on the size of the job.

Since 1951 in Orange County California.

Tipping is not required, but it is a common practice, and greatly appreciated by our hard working technicians!